Chimera Industries Cerberus: The 18L, mATX, USA-made enclosure

[Nyven]

Okay. So it's time for me to order a Cerberus to Australia. However, I have a couple questions trying to squeeze my build into this small chassis. I really, really, REALLY want to watercool since I can push the envelope with performance on my CPU and keep my high-powered GPU fairly cool. The GPU is NVIDIA reference length 980ti, but might upgrade to 1180ti once that comes out. With watercooling, this case only has so much space for rads, and I'm wondering if there's any possible way that a 240 rad could fit on the side bracket with an internal-mounted SFX crammed over to the side? If not, my second question is can a rear-mounted SFX be shifted away from the side bracket by flipping the PSU bracket?

EDIT: FYI this build is SUPPOSED to be a custom loop but since I plan on getting the 9700k for dem OCTOCORES and probably the next gen nvidia card, I might be sticking with my 7700k and h105 for a while. WHEN I do the custom loop, it's planned to be sexy with lots of RGB/UV, a UV-reactive decal on the side-panel window and an illuminated reservoir on the bottom. Unfortunately I do need a single mechanical for mass storage (games that i play and build tend to be on the large side) and I can't think of a way to hide it, so maybe I'll just slap a nice decal on it?

If you rear mount a power supply you can get a 1 fan radiator on the side. If you mount the power supply in front you have 260mm of room roughly, all the 240mm rads i've seen are 272+mm so just a little to long to fit. You can however fit 2x 120mm standing up side by side on the side bracket and the power supply up front, though the rear(left) rad will only be anchored by the 2 right side screws unless you drill 2 holes in the side bracket, also the power supply cable will be sorta in the way and make it a real PITA as well to get in. Wished they'd moved the power cord plug to the left side on the rear bracket instead of the right side, believe the ncase m1 made this same revision on their case for this reason.

 

[Alfvin]

If you rear mount a power supply you can get a 1 fan radiator on the side. If you mount the power supply in front you have 260mm of room roughly, all the 240mm rads i've seen are 272+mm so just a little to long to fit. You can however fit 2x 120mm standing up side by side on the side bracket and the power supply up front, though the rear(left) rad will only be anchored by the 2 right side screws unless you drill 2 holes in the side bracket, also the power supply cable will be sorta in the way and make it a real PITA as well to get in. Wished they'd moved the power cord plug to the left side on the rear bracket instead of the right side, believe the ncase m1 made this same revision on their case for this reason.

Sorry to say, but two 120mm fans can't actually fit together on the side bracket with the front-mounted PSU. The two fans together take up 8.5 of the 9 mounting slots given, while the power supply needs a clearance of about 1.25 slots on the frontward end to fit.

 

[SilverJS]

My search hasn't been very productive - anybody use this case mounted horizontally? Was looking at the Thermaltake Core G3 for just in my ac rack but ironically enough, by the time I get all the parts to make that case work, the Cerberus is actually a bit cheaper considering the parts I already have on hand....

I'm sure it's POSSIBLE to just lay the case on its side and run it this way, just curious to see it it's been done. I'd use a Gene VIII, 7600k, H90 and RM550x.

 

[Nyven]

Sorry to say, but two 120mm fans can't actually fit together on the side bracket with the front-mounted PSU. The two fans together take up 8.5 of the 9 mounting slots given, while the power supply needs a clearance of about 1.25 slots on the frontward end to fit.

Your img links aren't working....

As I said 1 of the 2 you can only use 2 screws to mount it unless you drill the other 2 holes yourself. Here is a link to pics of my build where I have two 120 rads mounted on the side, only using 2 screws on the rear rad since I didn't drill the other two.

https://photos.app.******/JLq0PivSES94rJXs1

 

[Alfvin]

Your img links aren't working....

As I said 1 of the 2 you can only use 2 screws to mount it unless you drill the other 2 holes yourself. Here is a link to pics of my build where I have two 120 rads mounted on the side, only using 2 screws on the rear rad since I didn't drill the other two.

https://photos.app.******/JLq0PivSES94rJXs1

Ah sorry, I wasn't reading your post correctly. Yeah, don't know what is up with images. Must be a rookie mistake I've made trying get a whole gallery to show like in the other posts I've seen. ^_^;
Anyways, they were just images showcasing the incompatibility. Nothing important to see, now that you have clarified.

 

[VegetableStu]

oh, that. copy the album link, click on the filmstrip icon to the right of the picture icon, and paste the link.

or commit the following to memory:
[MEDIA=imgur]a/2N5Sa[/MEDIA]

(a/ being the album tag, and followed by the album's unique ID)

 

[Kwirek]

Just wanted to reiterate; it is very satisfying to work in this case.

I had reason to do some hardware swapping due to diagnosing a hardware failure in an other system, and it was a joy*. Well planned out, easy to reach all components and sturdy construction.**

After a dozen reconfigurations I'm yet to strip any threads in the frame - and it feels like I never will when I screw in the screws. Compare that to the Ncase's I have (and love dearly) where I've done exactly that by being careless and forgetting that I'm prone to over-tightening everything from screws through jar-lids to handbrakes.

*The ease of dismantling - not the hardware failure.
**To be fair, the first two can be partly attributed to my choice of components, but the layout makes it easy to chose the right ones (which is most of them). I've long ago given up on hard-to-service layouts. :-)

 

[Sancus]

After a dozen reconfigurations I'm yet to strip any threads in the frame

I've actually managed to mostly-strip the head in one of the tiny screws that holds the side bracket closed after I-can't-even-count how many removals but this was definitely my mistake. Should probably figure out what screw type that is and replace it...

E: Damn I was tired when I made this post, I meant I stripped the phillips head not the screw thread. Stripping the threads themselves would be harder.

 

[lomskat404]

My build isn't finished yet, but I moved all the current parts into Cerberus.
Here's a little build log in extremely poor quality (courtesy of an old smartphone camera!)
Please note that it, obviously, looks better live. The photos don't give it justice.

I ordered a magnetic dust filter for that CPU cooler (Thermaltake Matrix D14)
and a small 92mm exhaust fan for the rear (be quiet! Silent Wings 2 92mm PWM).

Initially I hoped to mount a 140mm slim fan (with 120mm mounting holes) on the top, but with this behemoth of a cooler and all the cables there, nothing is going to fit.

Further down the line I hope to get a new gen GPU (GTX1180 maybe) this year and a couple of 140mm fans for the bottom.

Needless to say, I am extremely satisfied with the result and the case in general. It's a joy to look at

 

[Nyven]

@KSliger I was wondering if there's a update on the windowed side panels that you can give us seeing as how they still haven't shipped?

 

[VegetableStu]

I PM'd them last week and they mentioned that they're getting some punch machines repaired and that's affecting window panel production. if you want something to build in ASAP then they could ship the rest of the case to you with the side panel on hold untill they can get it running again

I decided to wait it out because I'm using a forwarder ._. so yeah if you're feeling a bit anxious I know that feeling. give them time they need

 

[KSliger]

Apologies on window delays, first our mill spindle went down, then the vacuum table went down, we're supposed to ship last week but I was at a trade show all last week and team wanted my personal confirmation on the windows before shipping - back today, they all look great, assembling as we speak.

If you ordered a window you should be getting confirmation today or tomorrow worst case. Thank you all for your patience!

 

[whatsacorrado]

@KSliger about to send you an email regarding my order. is it just sales@sliger.com?

 

[KSliger]

@KSliger about to send you an email regarding my order. is it just sales@sliger.com?

That email works best, just reference your order number, thank you!

 

[dragonshardz]

Your img links aren't working....

As I said 1 of the 2 you can only use 2 screws to mount it unless you drill the other 2 holes yourself. Here is a link to pics of my build where I have two 120 rads mounted on the side, only using 2 screws on the rear rad since I didn't drill the other two.

https://photos.app.******/JLq0PivSES94rJXs1

Off-topic, but: Hello, fellow EVE player.

Apologies on window delays, first our mill spindle went down, then the vacuum table went down, we're supposed to ship last week but I was at a trade show all last week and team wanted my personal confirmation on the windows before shipping - back today, they all look great, assembling as we speak.

If you ordered a window you should be getting confirmation today or tomorrow worst case. Thank you all for your patience!

I admit I was starting to worry about my own order for a windowed case. Glad to hear you guys are back up and running.

 

[Sancus]

Has anyone taken the measurements to get demcifilter to do custom filters for Cerberus? I know someone mentioned that the Ncase M1 ones kinda fit at least for bottom(?) but I'd like full length top, bottom and side filters to be honest. And maybe front for a future build.

 

[VegetableStu]

 

[MarcParis]

Your img links aren't working....

As I said 1 of the 2 you can only use 2 screws to mount it unless you drill the other 2 holes yourself. Here is a link to pics of my build where I have two 120 rads mounted on the side, only using 2 screws on the rear rad since I didn't drill the other two.

https://photos.app.******/JLq0PivSES94rJXs1

Nice setup!
Please come on! Remove this "damn" handle...your poor cat is unable to lie down

Long live cats!

 

[Taswegian]

Handle? You mean the F.V.C.M? (feline ventilation clearance module).

Good point though, I suppose you could also use it for carrying.

 

[dragonshardz]

Has anyone taken the measurements to get demcifilter to do custom filters for Cerberus? I know someone mentioned that the Ncase M1 ones kinda fit at least for bottom(?) but I'd like full length top, bottom and side filters to be honest. And maybe front for a future build.

I was just looking at demcifilter's site and I'll probably do this thing once mine arrives.